Judge Denies Clemens' Motion To Prevent 2nd Perjury Trial

A motion by Roger Clemens' defense team to have a judge dismiss the government's case against the former pitcher was denied Friday afternoon, as reported by Fox News.  Clemens' lead attorney Rusty Hardin had asked judge Reggie Walton to forbid another trial following the July hearing in which the judge declared a mistrial after two days of testimony.

According to Fox News, the judge sided with the prosecution and set a date for the second trial.

Hardin accused prosecutors of deliberately sabotaging the case because it was going badly for the government.

During the first trial jurors were shown evidence that was already determined to be inadmissible in court by the judge.

The prosecution team claimed it was a mistake.  Prosecutors-- Steven Durham and Daniel Butler made a critical error by introducing the barred evidence.  They apologized and impelled Walton into giving them another chance.

The evidence in question was a video in which a congressman referred to testimony by Laura Pettitte-- former Yankee Andy Pettitte's wife-- that Walton had barred as second-hand testimony.

In a statement, Walton said," I want to believe it is a mistake.  I would find it hard to believe that they would blatantly disregard a ruling I would make.  But it's hard for me to reach another conclusion."

Hardin, meanwhile, thinks a retrial would be a "reward" for the prosecutors for causing the mistrial in the first place.

Clemens is accused of lying under oath after speaking before a committee about steroid use in 2008.

At that hearing, Clemens testified," No matter what we discuss here, I'm never going to have my name restored.  But I've got to set the record straight.  Let me be clear.  I've never taken steroids or HGH."

Today's decision by judge Walton means that there was no procedural misconduct and it favors the prosecution.

The ruling determined that Clemens will be tried once more for lying under oath.  The trial date is set for April 17.

A guilty verdict would further tarnish the image of one of baseball's greatest pitchers and hinder his chances of getting into Cooperstown.

Hardin said it would take a couple of days to decide if they will file an appeal.

Mistrial Ruled In Roger Clemens Case; Could Get Off Due To Double-Jeopardy

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton was not certain of a fair trial, in the case of former-major league baseball star Roger Clemens' perjury trial,  and ruled a mistrial on the second day of the case.  His ruling was handed down after prosecutors showed jurors inadmissible evidence against his orders.

Prosecutors claimed the problem could be corrected with instructions to the jury to "disregard the evidence."

Walton wasn't convinced of the prosecution's assurance and said, "We've got a man's liberty at interest."

The jurist followed that up by reasoning," I don't see how I can un-ring the bell."

Now the government's case could be "concluded" if they determine not to re-try the case or if Clemens' attorneys claim 'double-jeopardy."  The term refers to the law which prevents anyone from being tried again for the same crime.



According to ESPN legal analyst Lester Munson, the "government failed 100%" by not removing evidence it was instructed to dispose from the case.  The "blunder" could lead to acquittal through the mistrial and legal loophole.

The piece of evidence in question refers to video testimony from former New York Yankees teammate and good friend, Andy Pettitte, who said Clemens told him in 1999 or 2000 conversation that the pitcher used performance-enhancing drugs during his career.

Walton stopped the prosecutor's playing of the video of the 2008 testimony before Congress and removed the jury from the Washington courtroom.

Clemens is accused of lying to Congress during that testimony and claims Pettitte misheard him.

Walton said prosecutors erred when they showed jurors evidence that was previously unusable in the case.

Prosecutors wanted to use Pettitte's wife Laura as a witness to corroborate Pettitte's statement, but the motion was denied because Clemens never said it directly to his wife.

Pettitte said he told his wife about the conversation with Clemens the day it happened but Walton still considered it second-hand information.

Being denied a chance to use this key piece of the prosecution's evidence was a big blow to their case.

"The ability with Mr. Clemens with this jury to get a fair trial with this jury would be very difficult, if not impossible," said Walton.

This was the second time prosecutor's have gone against Walton's orders.  Yesterday, assistant U.S. attorney Steven Durham said Pettitte, Chuck Knoblauch and Mike Stanton used human-growth-hormones.

Before that, the prosecution came out with guns blazing on the first day of the trial.

In their opening statement, the prosecution showed off photos of medical waste that they claimed contained both anabolic steroids and Clemens DNA.  They claimed the needles and bloody cotton balls would prove Clemens was lying when he testified before Congress.

Clemens attorney, Rusty Hardin, claimed the prosecution's evidence was manufactured by Clemens former trainer, Brian McNamee.

After today's ruling, Walton told the jurors to leave and said, "The case has already cost a lot of taxpayer money."

Walton reschedule a Sept. 2 hearing to determine if a new trial is necessary.

Potential witnesses who might have called to testify in the case included a Who's Who of former big league players.

Clemens and his attorneys remain under a gag order.

Yankees Bartolo Colon: The Round Mound on the Rebound

Out of all of the New York Yankees off-season scrap-heap pick-ups, was there a more questionable signing than pitcher Bartolo Colon?  The righthander  had not pitched since injuring his arm in 2009 and showed up at camp with a body that made Rosie O'Donnell look svelte than the 2005 Cy Young winner he once was.  The sight of Colon in a major league camp, never mind pinstripes, must have appeared to be some kind of joke.

Signing the rotund Colon may one of the best moves in an off-season of questionable moves by Yankees GM Brian Cashman.  Maybe Yankees bench coach, Tony Pena, should get the credit.  After all, it was Pena who phoned Cashman, after seeing Colon in the Dominican Winter League, and recommended bringing the fastballer to spring training and giving him a look-see.

Now, with Phil Hughes dead arm and Ivan Nova looking at a hitch in the minors, signing Colon may be the best move by Cashman so far this year.

The Yankees signed Colon for the bargain basement price of $900,000 and, while he won't make anyone forget the non-signing of Cliff Lee, he's taken out a little of the sting.

After throwing a masterful complete-game, 4-hit shutout victory over the Oakland A's on Monday, the 38 year-old seems to have found the fountain of youth.  And that makes people talk.



How is it a pitcher who's 2009 elbow MRI resembled a pile of pick-up sticks and sat out a full season come back and rebound like that?

Colon has been steady so far this season.  He is 4-4 with a 3.14 ERA and has 62 strikeouts with only 15 walks.  His fastball is consistently in the mid-90's and even his final throw against the A's was clocked at 95 mph. 

The fountain of youth is in Florida and resides in Boca Raton.  Dr. Joseph Purita is the orthopedic surgeon who may hold the future of sports medicine in his skillful hands--stem-cell procedures.   It could be the new Tommy John surgery and it now has tongues wagging.

Dr. Purita performed the controversial stem-cell procedure on Colon's tattered elbow and shoulder in the Dominican Republic eighteen months ago.

Colon went to Dr. Purita as a last resort for a partially-torn rotator cuff and elbow which constantly sent pain stinging up and down his arm.

The stem-cell operation, headed by Dr. Purita, was a procedure which drew fat (no Colon jokes) and healthy cells from Colon's bone marrow and inserted them into his bum shoulder and elbow.

The doctors claim they did the procedure without Human Growth Hormone--which can be used to hasten the healing.

MLB said Colon is part of an investigation into Dr. Purita's past practice of administering HGH to his patients.  Since other major league hurlers are looking into the doctor's procedure, expect more inquiries.

Dr. Purita swears that his team did not use HGH and said he is willing to take a lie-detector test to prove it.  He claims Colon wanted to avoid the scrutiny of the MLB substance abuse cops and went through the whole procedure HGH-free. 

The Yankees are no strangers to the scandal of HGH.  There's a virtual All-Star line-up of Yankees wearing or about to adorn those damaging scarlet letters.  Beginning with Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez and ending with Roger Clemens.  Having the procedure done in the Dominican Republic didn't due anything to silence the truth-seekers

While Cashman said he wasn't aware of the scope of Colon's off-season stem-cell procedure, don't expect the Yankees to open up a can of worms with any investigation regarding Colon's resurgence.  They'll take the doctor's words--and supply the polygraph machine.

For now, Colon may be the steal of the season.  With Hughes and Nova hurting and A.J. Burnett reverting to his old inconsistent self, Colon finds himself as the #2 starter behind CC Sabathia.

The Yankees know a healthy fastball from a hefty 38 year-old is a valuable, but fragile, commodity and manager Joe Girardi (the heat-miser) will monitor Colon's innings, throws or any other stat he can muster to prolong Colon's health.  Girardi will begin by giving Colon an extra day of rest in this rotation.

"You have to be careful, but we have not seen his stuff drop off,' said Girardi.

Whether or not Colon is a freak of nature or a the new Frankenstein of modern medicine is yet to be seen.  The re-animated Colon has given the Yankees life for the first two months of the season and, combined with the team's other junk-pile bargain Garcia, have kept the Yankees in the thick of the AL East.